ArHi FF! Gravity - Thread 2 - [Completed] - Page 68

Itcwas wooowww
Lovely
The best momemt was 'Hello Love' : when Arnav decides to return and when theyvtalk about Khushi's seven years
My least fav moment was when even Arnav decides to go away for his peace of mind

yayy!! "hello love" indeed... :):)

Beautiful – What a relief to see Arnav come home, come to where he belongs to – Khushi.

My most favorite moment (and also character) – Arnav's breakdown and his variable wishes. It was heart wrenching to see even during his own ordeal he is wishing for others.

Payal could cry on Lavanya and Arnav's shoulders, Anjali could cry on Shyam's shoulders, Lavanya could cry on Payal and Arnav's shoulder's and Khushi was away from everybody to cry whenever she wanted and be lost in the new world. But Arnav, though being among-st close friends and family could really never cry his heart out nor could anybody take the pain away from him. After the tragic incidents 7 years ago, that impacted each and everybody and left pain and only pain, everybody became focused on their loss and solace for the hurt they were going through. Were looking for reasons to move on with life. But Arnav had to look above and beyond his pain, 7 years ago and even today. He kind of became anchor for everybody around him, always aware how people depend on him and put his responsibilities towards these people above his pain and himself. Seven years ago just like Khushi he had a choice to leave everything behind and run away from everything and everybody who would remind him of Khushi, the void and pain she left behind but he stayed back. Today when he left everybody and everything, he made sure things are taken care of, people who depend on him are not abandoned and while being away he still wishes for these people.

Not once he believed Khushi was wrong when she was gone. He always gave benefit of doubt to her, trusted her and understood the reasons for her leaving even without knowing the reasons.

My Least favorite moment – When Khushi and Anjali reveal the truth to Arnav. If they couldn't tell him the reasons seven years back and then shouldn't tell him now. If they didn't want to tell him the truth to protect him and thought he cannot handle it and will be broken, why did they tell him the truth now? Will he not be broken? He was not protected then and he is not protected now.

Anjali and Shyam are my least favorite characters.

I know you didn't ask for this but I have to mention this moment from the story. Its not my most or least favorite but Arnav's mom's suicide was very numbing.

Chapter 30: Gravity

Arnav looked on as Khushi dried her hair wearing a peach colored fresh cotton sari. She looked at ease as she walked bare feet around the house and Arnav continued to watch rain pouring in steady rhythm and splashing near his feet. The square courtyard inside the house made the entire experience of living in a country home vastly different. His eyes glazed over the Brindavan kept at the center of courtyard and vaguely heard his name being called. He came out of his stupor and looked around hazily.

"You seem to be lost in a faraway place," Khushi said handing him a cup of tea. He didn't know if the warmth that spread across his chest was due to catching the hot tumbler or the way Khushi easily placed the cup in his hands and wrapped his palms around it.

"I was…admiring this house. It's very homely." Arnav said cocking his head from left to right and Khushi smiled at that. He looked downcast when Khushi pulled away and started walking away. "Where are you going?" He blurted standing up. He wanted to slap his forehead for the unnecessary clinging feeling he was undergoing.

"I am going to cook us dinner. I hope you are hungry," she said softly and walked towards the other end of the corridor where entrance to kitchen was present. Only when he sat on kitchen floor leaning on the wall opposite to her did he realize that he had followed her. He sighed and resigned to the fact that the pull he was feeling towards her was natural and would probably be this way for the rest of his life. He decided to better accept this fact and move on.

"You seem fairly comfortable sitting on floor and working on century old way of cooking – using wood and coal," Arnav noted, fascinated with the ease with which she was moving around.

"All I had to do was to build a chimney and sort of enclosed heating mechanism so that the burning of the wood didn't bring tears into my eyes. The design is quite rudimentary and then I had to expand on the theme by adding multiple burners to hasten cooking." She said the nerd part of her immediately taking over. Arnav smiled at her and watched the way she stretched her arms to pick some stored pickle from a shelf which was at least a foot above her head. His eyes transfixed on her naked waist adorned with a thin silver chain which gleamed merrily in the small light of the kitchen.

"You love it here, don't you?" He asked her once she was settled in front of roaring fire with food ingredients, spices, fresh vegetables and utensils around her. The lack of electricity didn't deter her as she had lit up few lanterns around the house. The soft glow from fire decorated her profile and accentuated her features. The loose bun on nape of her neck followed her like an obedient pet whenever she turned her head to tend to fire or pick up an ingredient.

"There are so many facilities lacking here when compared to life back in city but the thing they have in abundance is simplicity and contentment. That's hard to come by there, isn't it?"

"Wasn't adapting to this kind of lifestyle difficult?"

"Not really. I have lived almost a similar life back in central Africa. Strangely enough people there are no different from those here. The calmness of people in times of peril always seems to be uniform; it's almost like we are all genetically coded to react in a specific way when it came to matters of existence and survival." Khushi said cutting vegetables. Arnav wondered if she was talking about the villagers or them.

"Did you find what you were searching for?" Khushi asked suddenly making him startle a little. He swallowed and narrowed his eyes at her but she wasn't looking at him.

Arnav didn't respond for several moments as he collected and organized his thoughts. "In the beginning it was merely to be in a foreign place to make me forget my own home. But as time slowly trickled away-"

"Memories of home grew closer." Khushi finished it for him. Arnav looked up and saw that Khushi was looking at him with unknown emotions shadowing her face. He nodded mutely.

"On a daily basis we struggle with bonds of attachment, heartache, pain and suffering of others, deception, despair and many things more. It took me a year to realize that irrespective of what life I chose, I would never be free of these emotions."

"What do you mean choose life?" Khushi asked immediately latching on.

Arnav chuckled and shook his head. "I considered taking embracing way of life and live as a monk for the rest of my life."

Khushi's hands stilled at that. Her eyes displayed the fear which she had buried deep in her heart and looked at him open mouthed.

"Why didn't you?" She managed to strangle the words out.

Talking about the ultimate conflict he had faced when he made decision to come back had eased up all the nerves and his nerve endings were on fire. It was the kind of energy he once possessed and her nearness only made the flames last longer. "My mind was at a point where I was thinking about people near me and how I would be leaving them…permanently. The last thread that held me to my present life was you. Once I overcame that thread, the transition to ascetic way of life would have been a cake walk. But then I realized…" He stopped.

"What did you realize?" She whispered. The soft hums of wood burning and water boiling in a pot was a comforting symphony.

"I could have left and still be thinking about you all the time though it is sort of mandatory for monks to fully commit themselves to detachment. I would be a struggling monk for the rest of my life to overcome my attachment to you and my mind would never be at peace. I realized that my detachment from my demons, inner most fears, insecurities comes from my attachment to you. The irony is so…jaded and so…us."

Khushi hid her face between her knees and Arnav could see her shoulders shaking. He was instantly on his feet and with two long strides he was sitting next to her and pulled her to him.

"I am…sorry for not telling you anything, for not giving you your choice, for not trusting your judgment and…not believing in us," Khushi sobbed.

Arnav exhaled slowly and rubbed her back as she held on to him and allowed all her pent up sorrow to flow. It was the first time she had apologized for her decision and action and the devolution of their relationship. In all honesty he didn't know how she felt because no one really can. All he could do is to help her to move away from past and step towards future.

"There are things I haven't told you yet…" Khushi said in between sobs.

"Hey…don't worry about it. As a first step in my self-discovery process, I met Akash. He told me everything – the things you knew before you left me and those you found out after. Knowing complete truth was important for me to find answers and I fathomed it was best to hear from an observer than you." Arnav said simply. Khushi understood that he didn't want an opinion where usage of words would mar the content to the point that it would change the emotion behind the truth completely.

"And…"

"And nothing Khushi. I can understand the amount of distress it would have caused you to find out that there was a possibility that my mother crashed your parents' car which ended their life. It took me months to come to terms with that but with passing days, I came to accept it. You carried all this and more in yourself pickling it with time…" He hugged her tighter.

With time he slowly understood the reason behind Khushi's actions and decisions thought he questioned the rationality of it.

Truth and emotions when contradicted and conflicted, the result was a combination of inaccurate decisions and impulsive action. Khushi was simply stuck in the middle.

They sat like that for several moments. Every unresolved feeling had poured out of them and flown away in rain when he had hugged her. Now when the same feelings were given the form and sound of words, their hearts were lighter.

Khushi slowly released herself from his embrace and smiled brilliantly at him. He wiped the residual tears at the corner of her eyes and returned her smile.

"May I tell you something very important?" Arnav asked seriously.

Khushi's smile was now just soft and been-there one. "What is it Arnav?" She asked softly. 'Was he going to tell her…?' Her heart hammered in her chest.

"Vegetables are burning." He said cocking his head towards the steaming vessel where once green vegetables were noisily charring.

She shrieked and hurriedly removed the vessel from flame muttering under her breath. Chuckling, Arnav moved away from her working area and sat in his original place – leaning against the wall and in her direct vision. He continued to watch her cook and clean and found the rhythm lulling him to surrender to tranquility. He sincerely wished his rest of the life to be similar to this exact moment.

They chatted easily talking about the places they had seen, new food they had eaten and unique experiences when they were away from home and realized that they had talked for the entire night when first rays of sunshine silvered the courtyard in its warmth. It had stopped raining somewhere around wee hours of morning and Khushi had prepared them steaming cups of almond milk. They had continued their discussion in the direction of village upliftment, Khushi's willingness to see the project till its last phase and draw out a similar plan which was process oriented to different villages. She chuckled when Arnav sighed without hiding his relief when she mentioned that her stay in the village was temporary.

Sleep eluded them and both had the sudden craving to know everything they had missed about each other in past years. It was a gap in their life and neither liked the void thus making them desperate to fill it up with information.

He was telling her about a Sadhu he met on the banks of Ganges when they heard the loud knocking on the door.

Stopping his narration, he said, "Isn't six in the morning too early for house visit?" He asked.

"Life starts very early here Arnav." She said walking towards main door. "It must be Malvika and her band of people wanting to talk about the project." He said smiling at the look of disbelief in his eyes. He watched her crossing the courtyard with grace and when she was next to Brindavan, he called.

"Khushi?" She turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"May I tell you something important?" He asked, eyes twinkling. She rolled her eyes. He was making fun for her again like he had done several times that evening and hurriedly looked at her attire and checked her hair.

"What is it now?" She asked satisfied after giving herself an once-over, hand on her hip. Arnav chuckled at her expression.

"I love you." He said and laughed at her deer caught in headlight expression. She swallowed several times and felt the smile on her face would rip her lips permanently and look like the famous Batman villain. She jogged to him, hugged him tightly and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I always knew," she whispered in his ears. She hurried towards main door and before opening it she turned back. Arnav stood there in her direct line of vision and watching her intently with a smile.

"I love you too," she mouthed and was pleased when his smile grew and reached his eyes.

She turned towards door and opened it to invite a new day in their life inside.

The END.

There it is - the ENDING!!! Thank you everyone for reading, liking, commenting and writing PMs during the course of the story.
Thank you very much for being with me, recommending this story to your friends and putting across your point of view when the story contradicted yours. I feel extremely satisfied when I see the comments here debating about the characters and feeling their agony, annoyance and anger. Its the first time I ever wrote under angst genre and I had no idea that I would take a journey this far and actually see it complete.
Dear readers, it wouldn't have been even a remote possibility without you guys...so many, many thanks.

The New FF - Escape Velocity is posted and I will see some of you there. I am removing everyone from current PM list and start sending out buddy request to all of you who have commented on Escape Velocity. New story, new PM list - that's easy :=)

Thanks again and see you soon on next FF!

I can't tell u how much I was smiling by the time I finished reading the update too, thank you for giving them the ending/beginning they deserved. I'm glad that everyone were able to move on and somehow found what they were looking for.. You are a brilliant writer & you excel in depicting human emotions..

😃 ...

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! another beautiful story...all the way it was amazing..loved it...and thank you for the story and all the updates👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Finally Arnav and Khushi are home !

Thank you RB for this story , it has been an eye opener for me !

This ff was sonething really different and awesome
Loved it a lot
The way they needed peace to get away from each other but still werent able to get away it was beautiful
Absolutely readable to be hooked up with